Motherhood meaning and changes in adolescent mother’s life

Abstract

The objective of this descriptive exploratory study with qualitative approach was to know the meaning of motherhood for adolescent girl and identify changes in the adolescent mother’s life. The participants were primiparous adolescents and were selected from a rooming-in of an emergency public hospital of Rio de Janeiro. The interview was conducted through domiciliary visits which were scheduled in advance, during late post-partum. Based on content analysis, the data resulted in three thematic categories: 1) The meaning of motherhood – for the adolescent mothers, motherhood is expressed with feelings and affection between mother and child, which is called mothering; 2) Changes in adolescence due to motherhood – they recognize that motherhood means changes in their life, as new demands are incorporated; 3) The mother and son affection - it is clear the pleasant mother-infant relationship, showing an early maturity to take care of the child. Thus, we recognize that the subjective aspects of motherhood for these young people will help to manage the care of these women.